The Overnighters — Trailer

The recent economic slump in America caused the country's unemployment rate to rise to an excruciating level. However, North Dakota was experiencing its own oil boom. The state became a beacon of hope for thousands and thousands of unemployed workers, producing a massive migration. As employment opportunities grew, so did the need for affordable housing. A majority of job-seekers were forced to live on the streets as they scrambled for a residence required to list on their job application.

And that's where the award-winning documentary "The Overnighters" begins. Filmmaker Jesse Moss tells this "Grapes of Wrath"-type story by centering on a North Dakotan pastor named Jay Reinke, who independently starts up an "overnighters" program in his church, providing shelter to a group of struggling American migrant workers.

The film premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, winning a Special Jury Prize. It's now slated to open in theaters on October 10th. (Watch the trailer, above.)

synopsis: A modern-day Grapes of Wrath, award-winning documentary The Overnighters is an intimate portrait of job-seekers desperately chasing the broken American Dream to the tiny oil boom town of Williston, North Dakota. With the town lacking the infrastructure to house the overflow of migrants, a local pastor starts the controversial "overnighters" program, allowing down-and-out workers a place to sleep at the church. His well-meaning project immediately runs into resistance with his community, forcing the clergyman to make a decision which leads to profound consequences that he never imagined.